There was a time—not so long ago—when the It Girl could be identified by two exact coordinates: low-rise jeans and sharp shoes. If you didn’t have a pointy toe that looked like it could kill (metaphorically, of course), you weren’t in the spotlight. Collaborations multiplied: Melissa x Y/Project jelly mules, Ancuta Sarca stiletto sneakers… Everything screamed “future,” “fetish,” and “fashion.”
Fast forward to 2025, and those silhouettes now slumber peacefully in the back of the closet, alongside dirty-wash jeans and cycling sunglasses. What dominates the scene now is much softer. Literally. Crocs, UGGs, Mary Janes, and even a PUMA Speedcat ballet flat: the shoe has become rounded, softened, and infantilized.
The Era of the Soft Toe
It all started with balletcore. We’re not just talking about sheer nylon tutus and leotards, but also its secret weapon: ballet flats. Brands began reimagining the most classic flat shoe with new materials and attitudes. Examples? Alaïa’s studded black ballet flats, Jacquemus’s red bow pair from the FW23 show, or Melissa x Nodaleto’s plasticized versions.
Then came the comeback of mesh sneakers. A kind of core sports trauma that connects us directly to the wardrobes of the early 2000s. To whom do we owe this revival? To The Row, Alaïa, and that insatiable appetite for nostalgia that is now more a generational diagnosis than a trend.
And finally, the Mary Jane case. A quiet but solid comeback that, towards the end of 2024, exploded thanks to Sandy Liang, Cecilie Bahnsen, and MM6 Maison Margiela. The silhouette that was once a symbol of the “good girl” has been hijacked by the alt-fem aesthetic, reinterpreted by PUMA, UGG, and Onitsuka Tiger.
From sharp to smooth
The rounded shoe represents a more welcoming, playful, and not necessarily sexualized femininity. A return to childhood, yes, but not as a regression, but rather as a reconfiguration of power. In a present saturated with irony and performance, the childlike aesthetic—that which teaches us to embrace tenderness and clumsiness—becomes fertile ground for new forms of strength.
Because if pointy toes symbolized rebellion, aggression, and desire, rounded toes speak to us of confidence, acceptance, and soft power. And that, today, seems much more punk than any lethal heel.
This shift isn’t just a microtrend or an aesthetic anecdote. It’s the symptom of a larger change: a fashion that stops performing toughness and begins to embrace play, vulnerability, and the non-sexualized. Is it infantilized fashion or adult fashion that finally understands that you don’t have to dress up as a femme fatale to have an impact? The line is blurred. But the direction is clear.
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